Now Playing Onstage in Anchorage - Week of 12/02/2012

ANNIE JRGEORGE H GILSON MIDDLE SCHOOL 12/6-12/6/2012
Leapin' Lizards! The popular comic strip heroine takes center stage in one of the world's best-loved musicals. With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan ANNIE charms everyone's hearts, despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. She is determined to find her parents, who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City Orphanage run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. With the help of the other girls in the Orphanage, ANNIE escapes to the wondrous and magical world of NYC. In adventure after fun-filled adventure, ANNIE foils Miss Hannigan's evil machinations and befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She finds a new home and family in billionaire Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.ANNIE JR. is ideal for productions involving different grade levels, or for middle schools where students may be maturing at different rates. The cast size and age range of the parts are flexible and the bright, tuneful score is easy to sing and filled with familiar numbers.
Click Here for More InformationALASKA YOUTH ORCHESTRASAlaska Center for the Performing Arts, Atwood Concert Hall 12/7-12/7/2012
oin the award-winning Anchorage Youth Symphony in its 20th season under the artistic direction of Linn Weeda. Each concert features the Anchorage Youth Philharmonic with debut conductor William Waag. The 150 members of the Alaska Youth Orchestras come from throughout south central Alaska to participate in the "2nd best orchestra in Alaska."
Anchorage Youth Symphony's program this year is filled with some of the brightest and most interesting work in the repertoire. The season kicks off with Copland's beautiful and rhythmic Appalachian Spring - a Pulitzer prize winning ballet written for the incomparable choreographer Martha Graham. The evening concludes with Pines of Rome, Ottorino Respighi's brilliant and poetic description of his beloved Rome.
AYS's second concert starts with Brahms' Academic Festival Overture, a work written after the famous composer received an honorary degree. Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky is an important addition per Artistic Director Linn Weeda as it was part of the very first orchestral concert he ever played. It is a brilliant work filled with exciting rhythms and brilliant orchestral color. The concert ends with Smetana's Moldau that depicts the mighty river that flows through the Czech Republic. This Magnificent work is being performed in recognition of AYS's recent tour to central Europe.
The final concert of the season features the winner of AYS's concerto competition, and will also include Borodin's magnificent Symphony No. 2. Borodin was a brilliant and world famous chemistry professor at Moscow University who composed in his spare time.
Click Here for More InformationPINK MARTINIAlaska Center for the Performing Arts, Atwood Concert Hall 12/8-12/8/2012
Drawing inspiration from the golden era of Hollywood musicals and cocktail lounges of the '50's, the rollicking musical adventure known as Pink Martini gleefully blurs genres and captivates audiences. The dazzling 12-piece "mini orchestra" performs their diverse sound with a blend influenced by Cole Porter and Duke Ellington. According to bandleader Thomas Lauderdale, "If the United Nations had a house band in 1962, Pink Martini would be that band."
Click Here for More InformationOKLAHOMA!Perseverance Theatre 11/9-12/9/2012
Based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs, Oklahoma! was the first musical collaboration between Rodgers and Hammerstein and spawned the hits "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" and "Oklahoma" among many others. Often revived on Broadway and winner of numerous Tony Awards, this musical is sure to delight audiences of all ages! Oklahoma! is considered one of the most influential works in American Musical Theatre and Perseverance is proud to bring this amazing musical to Juneau audiences.
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